1985 National League season

A new team called the Barrow Blackhawks entered the league but only staged a handful of fixtures. The team failed to meet the minimum points limit resulting in the league authorities stopping their participation.^[2] Scunthorpe Stags withdrew from the league in May.^[3][4]

Weymouth Wildcats promoters Peter Ansell and Mervyn Stewkesbury, moved their team to Poole for the start of the 1985 season, following the closure of the Poole Pirates due to financial debts. Th eteam raced as the Poole Wildcats.^[5]

The league title became a dramatic three horse race between Poole Wildcats, Middlesbrough Tigers and Ellesmere Port Gunners. All three teams entered October with only away matches left. Poole were two points ahead of Middlesbrough but had one meeting left, with Middlesbrough having two matches in hand. Ellesmere Port were two points behind Middlesbrough but had four meetings left. The Gunners won away at strugglers Long Eaton and Edinburgh to draw level with Poole, and Middlesbrough won at Stoke to leave all three level. Ellesmere Port drew their penultimate fixture at Peterborough who had previously won every home match whilst Poole lost heavily at Berwick to rule them out of the running. Then tragedy struck Ellesmere Port at Birmingham, having lost the KO Cup final only two days previous. With Middlesbrough losing at Eastbourne on the same night, a victory would have given the Thornton Road outfit the title. Leading by 6 points after 8 heats, top scorer Joe Owen crashed and suffered a severe back injury which was to leave him paralysed. The subsequent 0-5 and loss of their best rider saw Birmingham fight back to win leaving Middlesbrough needing a win at Glasgow to snatch the title. It wasn't until November in the last meeting of the year that the showdown took place. Glasgow were second bottom due to their dreadful away record, but were not a bad outfit at home and kept the scores level after 10 heats. Disaster struck for the away side as Steve Wilcock crashed out and Glasgow took the 5-1. Trailing by four points going into the last heat, Martin Dixon bit the dust and the title was lost. Ellesmere Port Gunners were champions.

Barrow Blackhawks and Scunthorpe Stags withdrew in May and had their results expunged.^[6][7] Ellesmere Port Gunners closed after the fateful night in Birmingham, never to return.

The 1985 National League Knockout Cup was the 18th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Eastbourne Eagles were the winners of the competition.^[8]

First round

a=Abandoned (power failure, result stood)

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

First leg

Second leg

Eastbourne were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 83–73.

Neil Middleditch won the Riders' Championship. The final was held on 10 August at Brandon Stadium.^[11]

Pos.	Rider	Pts	Total
1	Neil Middleditch	33233	14
2	Kevin Hawkins	23233	13
3	Trevor Banks	32322	12
4	Stan Bear	3fx223	10
5	Doug Wyer	33003	9
6	Gordon Kennett	233ef0	8
7	Dave Mullett	01322	8
8	Nigel De'ath	02032	7
9	Louis Carr	2ex131	7
10	Dave Perks	11301	6
11	Steve McDermott	22010	5
12	Mike Ferreira	00122	5
13	Carl Baldwin	10211	5
14	Tom Owen	11111	5
15	Steve Lawson	1201t	4
16	Steve Wilcock	01100	2
17	Mike Bacon (res)	0	0

• f=fell, r-retired, ex=excluded, ef=engine failure

The National League Pairs was held at Hackney Wick Stadium on 15 September and was won by Ellesmere Port Gunners.^[12]

Semi finals

• Poole bt Wimbledon
• Ellesmere Port bt Peterborough

Final

• Ellesmere Port bt Poole

Middlesbrough Tigers won the fours championship final, held at the East of England Arena on 21 July.^[13][14]

Semi finals

• SF1 = Hackney 18, Stoke 12, Berwick 10, Wimbledon 8
• SF2 = Middlesbrough 17, Peterborough 12, Poole 11, Arena Essex 8

Final

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney. It was also the first time that the competition had been competed for by second tier teams.^[15]

Results

Arena Essex

Barrow (withrew from the league)

Berwick

Birmingham

Canterbury

Eastbourne

Edinburgh

Ellesmere Port

Exeter

Glasgow

Hackney

Long Eaton

Middlesbrough

Mildenhall

Milton Keynes

Peterborough

Poole

Rye House

Scunthorpe

Stoke

Wimbledon

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)